Row over road name echoes in MCC council meeting

The controversy surrounding the renaming of Light House Hill Road rocked the monthly meeting of Mangaluru City Corporation on Monday.

The Opposition leaders criticised Mangaluru South MLA J R Lobo for writing to the Urban Development Department to impose a stay on the naming of Light House Hill road after Mulki Sunder Ram Shetty, former chairman of Vijaya Bank.

Opposition leader Premanand Shetty said that the letter is a bunch of lies and Lobo has mislead the government. They demanded Mayor’s ruling on the issue.

The mayor quoted the government order and clarified that the department has only imposed a temporary stay. It has not ruled out the resolution passed by the council of the city corporation to name the road after Shetty. Now, the ball is in the court of the government. The district in-charge minister had called a meeting on July 27. But, the representatives from Vijaya Bank Employees’ Association did not attend the meeting. The minister has promised about solving the issue amicably and a meeting will be held in DC’s office in this regard shortly, she said.

Several memorandums have been submitted to the MCC by various organisations to name the stretch between Ambedkar Circle-Catholic Club after Idgah Masjid and Bavutagudda.

Also, a proposal of naming Mangaluru Town Hall after Kudmul Ranga Rao was discussed. Council whip Shashidhar Hegde said that legal advice will be sought and a proposal will be tabled in the next meeting.

Zonal Regulation

Corporator Muhammed said that the government has published the draft of Common Zonal Regulation on July 1, 2017 and July 31 was the last day for filing the objections.

He requested the mayor to write to the department concerned to extend the time as the information on the proposed draft has not penetrated into the public knowledge. The other members, too, said that they have not been informed about the issue.

 Former Mayor Mahabala Marla said that the current ZR regulations have many confusions regarding single site approval. Those who want to build individual houses are affected by them, he charged.

Commissioner B A Mohammed Nazir said that the state government is proposing to bring into force, a Uniform Zonal Regulation (ZR), as the regulation varies for different municipal corporations. The ZR is being revised once in five years.

The mayor said that an orientation programme will be conducted for MCC members in this regard.

Action sought

Corporator A C Vinayraj said that telecom companies have been laying underground cables on MCC’s land.

The MCC is collecting a very meagre rent from such companies and the tariff should be revised, he demanded. Several other members complained that the pits dug by these companies are causing inconvenience to people. In some areas, the UGD pipes have been damaged while digging, he claimed. 

The official said that the ground rent for lying cables in MCC land is Rs 1,000 per- km per year.

The mayor told the officials to take measures to stop the digging by the telecom companies. Penalty should be imposed to the companies which damage the roads and UGD system, she said. 

Former mayor Harinath urged the mayor to write to the Directorate of Municipal Administration to provide official vehicles for Standing Committee Presidents, Council Whip, and the Opposition leader.

Opposition leader Roopa Bangera said that the Smart City programmes have been confined to the meetings and no implementation has been done so far.

Before the meeting, the council observed a minute silence in respect of Scientist Prof U R Rao, former chief minister Dharam Singh and former corporator Farooq, who passed away recently.

Deputy Mayor Rajanish, Standing Committee Presidents Nagaveni, Abdul Ravoof, Prathibha Kulai and Sabitha Misquith were present.